Chrysler 300M Electrical/Lighting

Comments

I have had similar issues with my 99 300m brake light staying on. I found the battery cables ends were corroded and broken, and even though my car was still starting the battery was bad. since I replaced them I have not seen this issue

I am having minor electrical problems and I would like to check my fuses. I just bought a 1999 300M from a friend and he seems to have misplaced the owners manual. Could someone take a picture of their owners manual fuse box pages and post them? Or give me a link to a site that will have both of those?

Alot of these many , lighting /electrical problems can be attributed to the main battery cables. Reason being , is that the system is constantly being monitored , IE : you open the door and the interior lights come on , but they go off after a timer runs out. If the battery cables / terminals are defective where there is an intermittent on/off sequence within the cables themselves because of corrosion etc. the lights will be turned on or not work at all. All of the ground ring connectors on the driver's side of the inner fender must be free of rust (good connection). There is also a fuselink in the main battery cable that will cause alot of minor problems if it is brittle. Not to mention the cables ends that connect inside the Powertrain Control Module.

I replaced my cables on my 2002 300M Special last summer and 1 of the things that wasn't working , were the rear seat door courtesy lamps. On the Special , all doors have lights , not rear reflectors. At the same time , it is also important to make sure that you remove the ground cable on the passenger side fender before doing any fusebox or electrical work or testing , because the airbags can be deployed accidentally. On my Special , I have the SRS high quality leather seat airbags , plus the dash and steering wheel airbags to worry about setting off. It takes 2 minutes for the safety capacitor to discharge as well that is in place , just in case the battery becomes disconnected in an accident. The airbags will still deploy for up to 2 minutes from the capacitor's stored energy.

Sometimes , interior lights that continuously randomly come on , are as a result of a badly corroded door sensor or buttonswitch. It's not a good idea to assume that it is a fuse , if the light/s are working improperly. If they aren't working , the problem is more likely to involve the fuse as well. A good visual inspection of all of your engine compartment wiring should be the first step. If some wires are exposed to the elements or metal they can be the cause. Every wire should be covered or have an electrical sheath that can visibly tell you whether or not the wiring harness is , or isn't in good condition. If the harness is in poor condition , chances are these are the points at which the electrical system is intermittently responding to.

Even something as simple as the license plate light , or the trunk brakelight can cause shorting in the system. It's a good idea to check all lights , signals etc. prior to assuming you can begin pulling fuses out of the junction box near the steering wheel to determine what is wrong , when even a slightly damaged wire protector could be moving and touching metal while the car is being driven only.

Finally , someone has posted a more positive experience with cars that are not "run of the mill cheapies". For the most part , if you choose to ignore the obvious (visible) wiring or electrical problems with today's vehicles - you are asking for trouble in the future. It's very simple and easy to wrap some electrical tape around a wire that is exposed etc. , so that nothing can short circuit - but some people will drive their vehicles until smoke comes out of the hood , literally. At the same time , there are some people who claim the dealerships are "stealerships" , but their information can be used to determine what needs to be done , as opposed to any other garage where they suggest or do work that is not related , or useless. Alot of times a garage can do more damage than good , and there are still countless numbers of mechanics who pride themselves on being "toughguys" , to be able to do so. While you could do just as well for $0.50. Cheapest , is not always the best way to go. But if you are careless , you are sure to have trouble in the maintainence department where your vehicle is concerned.

IE : installing makeshift parts that don't fit / installing wiring that is not the correct size / improperly installing an aftermarket stereo system / trying to mess with sparkplugs for other engines / constantly boosting the battery to start the car , while you also repeatedly turn the starter motor / skipping seasonal oil and filter changes / never replacing the transmission fluids / trying new headlamp bulbs that may exceed the lense temperature range , and the wiring / leaving the window/s or roof open in a rain storm / storing the vehicle outside in winter with no cover and never brushing the snow off of the windshield area above the dash/wipers / never checking to see if electrical cooling fans are working to cool the engine compartment / never replacing the coolant reservoir vented cap / leaving the air conditioning system unuseable throughout the summer , while the system has a leak - which is why it isn't working or the compressor is not turning on or cycling / when a leak in a radiator hose develops , tape it over / when oil leaks occur , try silicone / etc. etc. All of these things contribute to a vehicle running downhill in the maintainence department , which will eventually lead to something major failing.

rico43 : Cycling the headlamp/dimmer switch may help temporarily , but you might want to (I know this is not really easy) have your battery cables checked where they go over the transmission to the starter. In some cases I have found that since these cables are heavily insulated and they have a protective sheath as well - they still are not seperated individually within the sheath (which means after a certain amount of heat and mileage , they could have a wear spot or area where the battery cables are actually touching at times). This will wreak havok on the electrical system. I had this happen to my semi tractor (Peterbilt / Classic 379 Long Nose / Condo) , where almost an entire foot of cable was completely bare inside the sheath. No wonder it was wearing out batteries , yet it was fine. I have also found this on cars. Plus the semi had (4) 1100 CCA batteries connected together in the side box at all times (right in front of a 165 gallon diesel tank - x 2). I was shocked. You can also fix these by recoating cables , but with cars , it's best to just replace them entirely from the battery to the starter , or wherever they go. Makes perfect sense too , that at the higher mileage , the electricals have a hidden problem. So much for this type of main wiring covering that doesn't come off like the split plastic tubing. Friction is the culprit , so you should also be checking the cable stays/tiedowns/bolts whatever , so that the friction is reduced. If you see the cables can move - chances are , your problem is there. You could - easier than not , cut the protective sheath off of the cables , inspect the cables thoroughly , and then replace the sheath with the split plastic type , if all is well , or if you replace the cables.

Just as a point to mention , Peterbilt further wraps the battery main cables (which go to the starter) , with rubber tubing. Each cable is wrapped where the cables are together , then the sheath or split plastic tubing is installed. But , even that was worn through for 6" on both the positive and negative main feeds (offset so it was a random short). I coated the damaged areas with thick plastic tar , rewrapped with oversized tubing to fit the cable size , then reinstalled the protective plastic split tubing , and it was fine.

There is also another hidden place behind the passenger side fog lamp , where 2 grounds connect to the frame , low - where they can rust or be in a disconnected (or temporarily disconnected) state. This is near the battery as well.

i have a 2002 chrysler 300m. LAST NIGHT 10/18/2013 at 10pm my whole dash board went completely out...meaning the dashboard lights were not working, and all of the gauges as well. I saw some wires hanging from the bottom of my front end and went to push them back up and when I got back into the car I had no dash ligts or tail lights. However, my headlights, brake lights, signal lights, interior lights, radio, everything else still function as normal. PLEASE HELP

Your reply seems to have much merit for the following problem. My question is, how many connections are there to be checked and cleaned? Instrument cluster back lights have been an intermittent occurrence over the past two plus years. Either came on and stayed on or did not come on at all. (2002 Chrysler 300M special, 165K miles). Changed the ignition switch over a year ago and problem seemed to go away, although there may have been a rare failure. Recent 30 days or so the intermittent failure mode has occurred more frequently. Cables have never been replaced, but may have been disconnected by a mechanic during repairs, for sure during a battery replacement.